Superbug death 'down to hospital'

Pamela Weller had returned to Sussex after living in the US

The family of a 69-year-old woman who died in a Sussex hospital have said she would still be alive if she had not contracted the superbug MRSA.

Pamela Weller was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, in October suffering from an infection following treatment for a broken hip.

Relatives said it was only her death certificate that told them of the MRSA.

The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said reducing cases of MRSA was one of its key priorities.

'Appalling conditions'

Mrs Weller suffered from a rare protein disorder and had returned to East Sussex to receive specialist treatment after living in the US.

She broke her hip in a fall at her home in Newhaven and underwent surgery in July, returning to the Royal Sussex at the end of October with complications.

Mrs Weller's daughter Karen said she still found it hard to believe that her mother had died from the superbug.

"I feel that if she hadn't have been in that hospital and had been in better conditions, that she wouldn't have got that [MRSA], and she would've been home," she said.

Mrs Weller's other daughter, Amanda, said although the nurses had been very helpful, conditions at the hospital had been "appalling".

Pamela Weller was admitted to the hospital after suffering a broken hip

She told BBC South East Today that a weeping intravenous line had made the sheets on her mother's bed soaking wet.

"She was shivering cold and I wanted to make her warm," she said.

The death certificate showed Mrs Weller died after suffering MRSA as well as a chest infection and amyloidosis.

The trust which runs the hospital has the highest rate of MRSA in the country.

This time last year it had identified 42 cases - double the figure expected for an organisation of its size.

Earlier this month it brought in a team of nurses dedicated to tackling the bug and stepped up measures to improve hand washing and cleanliness.

In a statement on Tuesday, the trust said it was aware that a lot of work still needed to be done to reduce the number of cases, although progress was being made.

It said: "If members of Mrs Weller's family have any issue they wish to take up with us about the quality of care or the ward environment they can formally complain and we will investigate their concerns and respond."